If you need a cute, custom container or feel the urge to get crafty, a used candle jar can become your best friend. It doesn’t cost a dime to upcycle these handy items if you have a few craft supplies around the house. 

What can you do with your latest empty? Here are ten creative ways to reuse candle jars. 

1. Make a Brand New Candle 

If you have used candle jars waiting for a new life, you probably have plenty of wax, too. Why not use it to make a whole new candle? If you used scented versions previously, you could invent a signature aroma. 

The utility of this tip depends on the method you use to remove the wax. One approach is to pour boiling water into each empty jar. The remaining wax will float to the top, where you can gather it. If that doesn’t work, sticking the jars in the freezer will solidify it enough to break out with ease. 

Once you have the wax and a newly cleaned jar, all you need to add is a wick. Melt the wax and pour it into its new home. 

2. Create a Custom Planter 

Do you need the perfect last-minute gift? If you have a few seedlings sprouted that you haven’t yet planted in your garden and a candle jar you need to reuse, you are in luck. 

Clean the jar and decorate the outside of it before filling it with clean potting soil. You could use photographs or draw pictures on paper that you affix — let your kids in on the action. Place the seedling within and add a ribbon. Voila! You have the perfect hostess gift without spending a dime. 

3. Or Make a Complete Windowsill Garden

If you are a candle fanatic with multiple jars to reuse, why not make a windowsill herb garden? All you need to do is follow the instructions above, multiplied. You might even have luck sprouting fresh herbs from the grocers in water. In that case, you don’t even need potting soil unless you want them to put down longer roots. 

What should you include? Why not plant those varieties used most frequently in your cooking? If you love Italian cuisine, herbs like basil, parsley and oregano make wise choices. 

4. Reduce Plastic Waste 

Who said you had to reach for a plastic bag at the grocers to hold your cherries or smoked almonds? There’s no need for a disposable when you have glass jars. 

After cleaning your jars, toss a few larger vessels in your reusable shopping bag. You’ve now done your part to stop adding to the great Pacific garbage patch. 

5. Stock Your Freezer 

Clean candle jars are ideal to reuse when you want to freeze the soups and stews you make from your summer vegetables for the cold winter months ahead. All you need is a way to cover them. 

If your candle came with a screw top that you kept, you are in luck. Otherwise, you can find reusable food wrap that won’t harm the environment the way the plastic type does to secure across the top with a rubber band. 

6. Get Fermenting 

Fermented foods offer oodles of digestive health goodness. They are rich in probiotics that keep your intestinal flora healthy, improving everything from “the go” to your overall mood. 

You can ferment nearly any plant-based food. Why not ferment some carrots and cauliflower if sauerkraut doesn’t appeal to your taste buds? 

7. Light It Up 

You don’t need tons of new wax to illuminate a reusable candle jar. An electric tealight you get from the dollar store can make an adorable craft. 

You can even reuse your candle jars come holiday time. Decorate the outside of the jar with paint, creating festive snowflakes or trees. Place some glass beads that reflect the season’s colors at the bottom of the jar and add an electric tealight. Wrap the top with a piece of festive ribbon and perhaps an evergreen sprig. You’ve just elevated your luminaria game to the next level. 

8. Make Vacation Memories 

What to do with that collection of seashells from your last trip “down the shore?” If you have empty candle jars, you can create a spherical shadowbox. 

Place a bit of sand in the bottom for beach vacation memories or maybe some of the signature red earth from a healing location like Sedona, AZ. Add a few tokens from your journey, perhaps using a photo or two to decorate the back side of the jar and display your memories on your mantel — or work desk for when you need a mental getaway. 

9. Organize Your Sink Space

Is your bathroom sink a mess of mascara wands and lipstick cases? Does your medicine cabinet shed toothbrushes every time you open it? 

Those candle jars make the perfect organizing tools. Use them to get all those various brushes and cosmetics under control. 

10. Save Your Spare Change 

Your spare change can add up — but it won’t if some of it is scattered on the counter while the rest lies beneath various sofa cushions. Why not transform a candle jar into a place to keep your coin cash? 

You can also use this idea for behavioral modification. Who isn’t familiar with the “swear jar” concept? You can start a similar challenge with your family, maybe putting money in the jar every time your teen remembers to clean their bedroom without prompting. When you collect enough moolah, you can treat your loved ones to a reward. 

Reuse Candle Jars in One of These 10 Ways 

Please don’t think you have to toss perfectly good glass in the rubbish bin because of a bit of wax. Reuse your old candle jars in one of the above ten creative ways.